I realise that Google places ads in the native Gmail environment. However, when using a third party front end to embed the Google services, how does the company make money off that? When I use Thunderbird to access Gmail or the Google Calendar or when I map my Google Drive to the file explorer, how can Google profit from this kind of use?
Remember: if you’re paying for a service, you’re also likely the product.
Check the privacy policy. It’s about all you can do these days, and hope it doesn’t change post fact.